The choice of who will be my familiar was only between Qilin and Dragon. Nekoshu were great and all, but I was more worried about survival. Even in the manga, the cat girl had to be saved a lot by the main character.

Cat girls are cool, but survival is cooler.

Choosing Qilin was tempting, since having a glimpse of the future would be quite a benefit. However, I wasn’t sure how good that ability would be and if Qilin could use it whenever they wanted.

This world always had some sort of balance. If an ability was too strong, then it probably had some powerful limitations.

I knew the future better than any Qilin could predict. Even if such a future will inevitably change, I merely had to be prepared for it. Prepare myself and make sure Agon handles the heavy lifting.

The last thing I wanted was to risk my life in a dangerous situation. When Agon risked his life, there was an almost 100% chance he would survive. For me, a dangerous situation was like dancing with death.

So the only choice left was a Dragon.

I have seen a dragon in the manga, and it wasn't an evolved demon but one born strong.

Dragons were flying lizards that stood at the top of the hierarchy even amongst the Ultimate Demons. But evolving a carp into a dragon will be more challenging than the other two.

I stopped thinking about the dragon as soon as I arrived at a stall that had what I needed.

There was a fishy smell around the stall. The owner had a red bandana and a thick white beard. But even through all that facial hair, his smile was wide and I could see his yellow teeth.

His mask couldn’t even be called that, it was just an eye mask. Like Batman’s sidekick. It was useless to hide someone’s identity. Maybe the man didn’t care?

“Hook demons! Come here and get your Hook Demons!” Yelled out the stand owner. His voice was loud, and as I got closer my ears rang a bit.

Was it some kind of special ability? There was a flute guy who had a similar ability in the original story.

The stall was full of small hooks that one would use to catch fish. At least that’s what they looked at at first sight. As I got closer, the dark aura around the hooks became apparent.

If one looked closer, where the string would pass on the hook there was a small human-like dark face peeking with hateful eyes as if cursing at the world.

It was a scary sight. “How much for ten of those?”

“Sixty silvers. Six silver for one.” He had a smile on his face as if waiting for me to refute the price he had set up.

I wasn’t going to. The price was a bit steep, but I had the money. Haggling wasn’t something worth wasting time on.

It felt nice being rich. Who said money couldn’t buy you happiness?

Seeing that I wasn’t going to haggle the price, the merchant continued. “Since hook demons are created by the hatred of those who died by betrayal. You will have to feed them a treacherous human’s meat every month, or they will die or go berserk. However, they’re classified as low class demons by the Exorcist Association. Hook Demons are more like lingering spirits.”

Well, this was a guy who loved his job.

He continued explaining how the hook demons ate their creator’s corpses before manifesting and hunting down the betrayer.

But I knew what these hook demons were used for. Most of the people who did contracts would use a Hook Demon for someone to uphold their end of the contract. Usually, they used it to tie the Hook Demon around someone’s heart.

Stolen story; please report.

If the victim breaks their promise, the hook demon will pierce their heart and kill them. Though it was a shoddy way to make a promise. Because one never knew how some special abilities worked. Demons weren’t always acting like they were supposed to either.

After paying the shopkeeper, half of my funds were gone. I’m sure I could have haggled down the price, but I didn’t want to try and draw unnecessary attention. I was just another rich bastard spending his daddy’s money. No one needed to know anything more.

Putting the Hook Demons in a glass jar sealed up with talismans. I looked around some other stalls and found a couple of interesting books.

A Guide to Hypnosis? It sounds like something a hentai protagonist would utilize. As expected, the black market sold a lot of sketchy things.

I don’t know a lot about hypnosis, only that it was used when Exorcism was hidden from the public. So I was quite curious about how it worked. “How much for the book?”

“Three silver,” the stall owner selling the books was less enthusiastic than the last one. “Hypnosis is a scam anyway. It’s an abandoned practice for a reason.”

Okay, this guy was a shitty salesman. He almost made me not want to buy something I was already planning on buying. “Yeah, here’s the money.”

“Thanks for the business,” he waved at me lazily.

I walked back to where I came from and entered door number eight and went back to the dark dusty house. Though instead of it being the door down the bookshelf. I came out from another random door in the abandoned house.

I didn’t question anything and walked away as fast as I could from the whole thing. I took off my mask and cloak after getting out of town.

Taking a deep breath, I had the urge to scream.

Everything went well! I had expected some kind of betrayal or the shop owner looking down on me. But that was what happened to the protagonists, not me.

After getting a good breather, I went back to town. This time I went to a fishmonger that sold live fish.

Using Ord in my eyes, I tried looking at the fish. But they all looked like, well, fish. Expecting to find something special in fish would need protagonist-like luck.

Maybe one day I should get Agon to come and check this out?

But as soon as that thought came to mind, I dismissed it.

The main character steals opportunities from both friends and enemies.

For example, in a group with four members. Two boys and two girls. Even if one of the boys was handsome and the other average-looking. If the latter were the main protagonist, he would get both girls and probably even the handsome guy's sister.

The fishmonger picked up a fish from a plastic bucket and put it on the chopping block. The fish was a carp, which was a common fish in both this one and my last world. Usually found in lakes and rivers.

"Wait, can I get a bucket and that live fish you're about to chop?" I interrupted the fishmonger just as he was about to bring his cleaver down.

"Huh?" He looked at me and narrowed his eyes. "Who're you, kid?"

I took out a silver coin and flashed it to him. Immediately his smile widened. "Of course! Whatever you need sir!"

His tune changed in a split second, and he dumped the other live fish on the ground and pulled up the bucket. Putting the fish, he was about to chop up back into the water. "The bucket is on the house."

I need to get some bronze coins. Or I'm going to have to keep overpaying for cheap stuff.

These were some rich people's problems. I liked rich people's problems. They're better than poor people's problems.

Just remembering the broke days of my last life, a tear almost went down my eyes. Living poor wasn’t a pleasant experience.

I took the bucket with the fish, and by circulating Ord through my body, I effortlessly carried it out of town without trouble. Then I walked down to a river close to the town. It was a bit of a shallow river. But it would do for now.

Closing my eyes, I sensed all the Ord in my body. In the early stages of their growth, Beast Masters weren't that strong compared to other affinities.

But there was one thing they had an advantage against other affinities. Beast Masters had superb control of their Ord. So I efficiently guided Ord to go at the tip of my finger. The carp fish seemed almost hypnotized, and he stopped moving in the bucket.

My index finger brushed against the fish's forehead, and immediately it was under my control.

Usually, to subjugate a demon, a Beast Master would have to beat them to a pulp. Then they will have a battle of wills before making them his familiar. As a beginner, I doubted I could tame even low class demons. But my opponent was just a fish, and there was no battle of wills either.

The fish didn't have an ounce of intelligence, so it wouldn't know what I was saying. But the carp still stared at me as if looking straight into my soul.

"One day, you will become a dragon," because if you don't, then the chances of my survival will plummet. “Your name will be Carpy!”